Social Design Lessons From Apple's Ping

Apple's first foray into social applications launched yesterday in the form of Ping: a social network for music built into iTunes. As I was reading people's reactions to and expectations of the service, a number of social application design lessons came to mind.

Self Expression: people want to control how they are seen by others.

"Infuriated that Ping requires you to use your billing name as your nickname."

"Apple has to individually approve users photos on Ping? I knew they were control freaks but this one takes the cake"

"Why does this Ping thing only let me choose 3 genres of music I like. I am eclectic, like way more than 3 types of music."

"-100 for relying solely on US iTunes purchases - I mostly have Japanese music!"

Instant Personalization & Instant On: people expect digital services to make use of the information they've already provided or have access to.

"Signed up for Ping: need a way to find friends, it doesn't know my iTunes songs/ratings"

"I was liking Ping until it recommended I follow Katy Perry and Linkin Park. I can't stand either! "

"Whaaaa? Artists have to join Ping before I'm able to "like" them"

"I was expecting to see a lot of artist waiting to be friended. But there’s only 14 or so."

Sharing & Broadcast: people want to share with and be seen by others. Especially when it makes them look good.

"Why should I create a Ping profile when it's sequestered in an app, offline, and impossible to link to or share via email?"

"Ping's integration with iTunes is pretty shallow - I can't like music in my own library."

Note: I'm not sure if the comments about are reflective of the way Ping currently works but they do reflect people's perceptions of the service!

Social Engagement Checklist: If you're interested in ways to align your social application with people's needs, check out the social engagement checklist I put together a while back. These questions attempt to answer the most vexing social design question: "why would people participate in a new service/product?"